Chapter 576: Undeniable Sweeping Defeat
“Receive my attack! Bloody Shower under Heaven!” Ma Yuan shouted loudly.
This time, he did not use the starting move of the Blood Shadow Saber Technique. He right away used the one of most powerful killing moves of the Blood Shadow Saber Technique.
Clearly, Ma Yuan was in a rush. He wanted to defeat Xiao Chen in the shortest amount of time possible, to try and regain the honor he lost when fighting Lin Fei.
The whole sky filled with scarlet lights as a killing Qi spread out. Ma Yuan leaped into the air with a momentum that could hack apart a mountain. He infused his saber with boundless killing Qi and chopped down at Xiao Chen’s head.
“Dang!”
Holding his saber in his left hand, Xiao Chen swung it up without drawing it out of its scabbard. He then blocked this saber strike with its great momentum without moving even a step back.
Ma Yuan was temporarily stunned. How could it be? Just the killing Qi of his attack would force ordinary cultivators to try and dodge. After that, the move would be mightier.
However, Xiao Chen raised his hand to block it, completely exceeding his expectations. This killing Qi did not affect him at all.
This was the opportunity Xiao Chen was waiting for. He placed his right hand on the saber’s hilt and instantly drew the Lunar Shadow Saber.
A strong state of massacre immediately drowned out Ma Yuan’s surging killing Qi.
The killing Qi that Ma Yuan was so proud off was nothing before Xiao Chen.
“Dang!”
Ma Yuan pulled his saber back to block but he was sent flying by the vast Essence infused into Xiao Chen’s saber. His Qi and blood roiled incessantly.
“Bloody Shower under Heaven!”
I cannot lose! Ma Yuan thought to himself. He suppressed the surging Qi and blood in his body and launched another attack at Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen said softly, “Are you still thinking of turning things around? Do you think you can do it?”
The purple crystal Qi whirlpool quickly spun in Xiao Chen’s body. A surging Essence gathered on his saber, bringing with it crystalline electricity.
Xiao Chen swung his saber again and knocked Ma Yuan back again. With the Blood Shadow Saber Technique’s killing Qi broken, its might was greatly decreased.
Ma Yuan would not stand a chance when trying to clash head-on with Xiao Chen. Xiao Chen shouted a warcry and charged over, raising his Lunar Shadow Saber.
“Bang! Bang! Bang!”
The saber light flickered and the surging energy gave off a heaven-shaking roar. Xiao Chen swung his saber three times, not giving Ma Yuan any time to catch his breath.
Then, Xiao Chen used his strong Essence foundation to break his opponent’s killing Qi in a direct confrontation.
After three moves, the injuries Ma Yuan suppressed burst out. He vomited a mouthful of blood and his body became very weak.
Four moves. From when Xiao Chen drew his saber to the time he sheathed it, he only used four moves to defeat the Divine Saber Gate’s Ma Yuan.
Compared to the seven moves Lin Fei used, Xiao Chen needed three moves less. This time, the audience no longer contested the decision to put Xiao Chen in the newcomer ranking list.
Lying in the dueling ring, the Divine Saber Gate’s Ma Yuan had an extremely unsightly expression. Originally, he had been in a rush to prove himself. Who knew, he ended up losing again.
Furthermore, Ma Yuan had suffered an ignominious defeat. He had been defeated much more miserably and straightforwardly than when he lost against Lin Fei. This made him despair even more.
Although Lin Fei had used seven moves to defeat him, Ma Yuan believed that if not for that strange Saber Technique, Lin Fei would have needed at least a hundred moves. He was not convinced of that defeat, not convinced at all.
However, he was fully convinced of his defeat at Xiao Chen’s hands. Xiao Chen did not defeat him using any tricks.
When Ma Yuan used killing Qi, Xiao Chen played along. In the end, Ma Yuan was crushed. His own killing Qi was nothing before his opponent’s.
When Ma Yuan went head-on, again Xiao Chen played along, meeting him head-on. In the end, even though they were both Small Perfection half-step Martial Monarchs, Xiao Chen’s Essence was much denser than his. In both quality and quantity, Xiao Chen’s Essence outstrip his.
Four moves, Xiao Chen only used four moves. That was three moves less than Lin Fei’s victory. Once again, he was trampled upon by a newcomer, turned into their stepping stone.
As Xiao Chen was about to get off the dueling ring, he saw Ma Yuan’s face filled with disappointment, and was moved. He stopped and said, “You did not get defeated by me, you got defeated by yourself. Your Blood Shadow Saber Technique depends, firstly, on killing intent and, secondly, on nimble movement that is shadowless and traceless.
“However, you were in too much of a rush. You were only thinking of how to defeat your opponent quickly but did not even bring out a sketchy Blood Shadow Saber Technique. When your mental state is not stable, how can you perfectly execute your Saber Techniques or other Martial Techniques?
“Think about your own moves. Did you connect the blood and shadow together? There was no connection at all between the killing Qi and the shadowless and traceless nimble movement. If you can practice this to Great Perfection, then even if you fought against someone of a higher cultivation, you would not lose so miserably.”
Ma Yuan had lost wretchedly to both Lin Fei and Xiao Chen. If he could not let it go, it would turn into a heart demon. From then on, he would only make negative progress in Saber Techniques.
There were too few bladesman experts who had risen to fame in the continent. As a bladesman himself, Xiao Chen did not want to see an outstanding bladesman fall due to discouragement.
When the Divine Saber Gate’s First Elder at the spectator stands saw this scene, he smiled faintly and said, “This fellow may be young but his mental state is quite polished. I hope that Ma Yuan can look past this. After two big defeats, he might have a chance to undergo a metamorphosis.”
Beside him, the first disciple of the Divine Saber Gate, Li Zaixuan, nodded. “This person is remarkable. Even though he is not from our sect, he is even clearer than we are on the essence of the Blood Shadow Saber Technique.”
Lin Fei, who was in group five as well, curled his lips. He said in a disapproving manner, “He is really good at pretending. It is just four moves. If I use my full power, I can defeat Ma Yuan in three moves.”
A hard-to-detect seriousness flashed in the previously calm eyes of the silent seeded participant from the Supreme Yi Palace, Gong Yangyu. He had a feeling that Xiao Chen would be his strongest enemy in group five.
After Xiao Chen took a seat, he started paying attention to the matches of people he knew. Zuo Mo’s luck was not very good; he was placed in the same group as Bai Zhan. They faced each other in the first match.
Perhaps it was because of Zuo Mo’s relationship to Xiao Chen, but Bai Zhan attacked very heavily. He was not in a rush to defeat Zuo Mo, continuously torturing him. Occasionally, he would purposely reveal a small opening to give Zuo Mo the impression that Zuo Mo had a chance to turn things around, thus enticing him to not admit defeat.
As time went by, Zuo Mo’s injuries got more serious. Finally, he realized that he had no chance of defeating Bai Zhan at all.
Bai Zhan merely laughed sinisterly, sending out two palm strikes. One palm strike was like an erupting volcano with a surging heatwave, the other a bone-chilling snowy blizzard.
The two states of ice and fire entered Zuo Mo’s body, causing his complexion to alternate between red and white. Blood continuously poured out of his mouth like a fountain. Before he could admit defeat, he had been beaten up by Bai Zhan to the point where he lost his combat prowess.
All his fights for the day could only be forfeited. He had to withdraw from the competition early, forever losing his chance to enter the True Dragon Ranking.
Bai Zhan, who defeated Zuo Mo, revealed a cold smile. He fired a venomous gaze at Xiao Chen.
Bai Zhan was silently telling Xiao Chen he had done this on purpose. As he was torturing Xiao Chen’s friend, he was trying to mess with Xiao Chen’s mental state, trying to weaken him.
A murderous intent flashed in Bai Zhan’s eyes but Xiao Chen remained calm. If he thought that he could disrupt Xiao Chen’s mental state, that would be a big mistake.
Not only did his actions not achieve the intended results, it even brought an inescapable disaster upon himself. This was because he had thoroughly angered Xiao Chen.
“The seeded participant Gong Yangyu is coming out!”
A loud exclamation came from behind Xiao Chen, pulling his attention back. He looked up to see Gong Yangyu, dressed in tight robes and holding a long staff, already in dueling ring five.
The staff was about 1.8 meters long and was greenish-purple. It was a head taller than Gong Yangyu. The surface of the staff was covered in black patterns and it looked very heavy.
Gong Yangyu’s opponent was a male disciple from the Supreme Sky Sect called Gao Jian. He used the rarely seen greataxe, a completely different route from Gong Yangyu.
They were both disciples of the Great Jin Nation’s ten great sects and seemed to have met each other before. Gao Jian knew that he could not defeat Gong Yangyu, so he said softly, “Brother Yangyu, do go easy on me.”
Gong Yangyu replied just as softly, “Then I will take care not to overdo it.”
Gong Yangyu did not put on the airs of an expert. After he spoke, he spun his staff around and a strong wind blew, causing Gao Jian to squint.
“Boom! Boom!”
After the strong wind started blowing, two claps of thunder resounded. When the third clap of thunder boomed, Gong Yangyu started moving his feet.
The wind and thunder roared loudly. This staff strike contained the might of wind and thunder as it pressed forward.
Although it was only a simple movement, Gong Yangyu managed to bring out wind and thunder. His demeanor had the faint grandeur of a great master.
Gao Jian shouted, lowering his stance and thus his center of gravity. He was using the state of resilience, like that of a firmly rooted old tree. He held the greataxe with both hands and swung it.
“Bang!”
The greataxe struck the tip of the staff, creating a strong shock wave that formed a strong tornado around them.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Gao Jian had firm foundations and his strike was orthodox. However, his strength was insufficient. The tip of the staff gave off surging lightning, forcing him back several steps.
Gong Yangyu’s expression was very serious. He had no intention of underestimating his opponent. He quickly took seven steps to the side of his opponent, leaving behind an afterimage with every step.
The seven afterimages all held a staff in different postures. At one glance, it looked like seven people wielding the staff at the same time.
“Xiu!”
By the time the seven afterimages merged together, the staff in Gong Yangyu’s hand was held at a strange position. It slid past Gao Jian’s hands and his huge greataxe, pointing at Gao Jian’s forehead.
All Gong Yangyu had to do was to put in some strength and he would smash Gao Jian’s head.
“Hu! Hu!”
Gao Yangyu pulled back his staff and twirled it around before placing it behind him. He said softly, “You went easy on me.”
Gao Jian smiled bitterly, not saying anything before jumping off the arena.
“How powerful. How exactly did he execute his final staff strike? I could not see it clearly.”
“Gong Yangyu’s strength is very consistent. Compared to three years ago, he had made significant improvement.”
“The seeded participants are indeed different. With just two simple moves, we can clearly see the difference between him and the newcomers.”
After watching Gong Yangyu’s match, the audience could not help but sigh. Aside from strength, many people saw something else as well.
Gong Yangyu’s attack could not be described as stunning; at least it was not as exquisite as that strange Saber Technique. However, for some unknown reason, they felt that Gong Yangyu was very strong, much stronger than Lin Fei.
Xiao Chen smiled faintly. With one glance, he was able to figure the fundamentals of these two.
Putting it in the words of his previous life, Lin Fei was an explosive type of fighter. He was graceful and overbearing, showing off his ability. As for Gong Yangyu, he already had been famous for a long time. He had a unique temperament: talented yet self-effacing. After some time, he could be a future master of the staff.